This is Rosa Gutierrez Lopez. She came to America 13 years ago from El Salvador, where men with machetes threatened to kill her. For the last 5 months she’s lived in Cedar Lane Church in Bethesda where she sought sanctuary to avoid being deported by ICE.

Rosa's story is a familiar one for undocumented immigrants. She sought asylum after crossing the border, was ordered to court, mistakenly missed that court date, and because of that she's been criminalized by our immigration system. And it’s gotten worse since Trump was elected.

Rosa has 3 kids—all US citizens under the age of 11. Her youngest has Down syndrome. Today, this country—the same one she once saw as her only hope—is threatening to deport her and separate her from her kids.

I’m deeply humbled to be in the presence tonight of Chinese activists who risked their lives and lost many friends and loved ones 30 years ago in the Tiananmen Square protests. Every crucifixion needs a witness.

There’s a time when we need to turn people’s ears into eyes and their eyes into ears. That’s how we shift the moral narrative and reorder speech.

If it were not for racist voter suppression, there would be no Trump presidency, no Trump tax plan, no “zero tolerance” immigration policy. We don’t know everything that happened with Russia, but we know what racist voter suppression did in 2016. We must reorder our speech.

Some of you here on Twitter debate w/ the same rationale of those who justified slavery.
Truth is, the states that now border Mexico used to be Mexico & were taken b/c slaveholders wanted to keep slaves after Mexico abolished slavery.

Jesus was forced into another country b/c of military policy just as many Latino brothers & sisters have been forced to flee their homes b/c of bad military policies.

Herod was killing babies after Jesus b/c of greed & thirst for power just as Trump’s racist policies against Latino immigrants are rooted in greed, thirst for power & lies.

We face a national crisis not unlike the storm that rocked America in 1968.

Our fight today honors MLK, Rabbi Herschel, Dorothy Day, Fannie Lou Hamer and so many more by continuing the fusion movement work they led against systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, environmental destruction & other injustices.

Black, white, Latino, First Nation, Asian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian, we are standing together to say that America’s future depends on yet another revolution.

Could it be that the Spirit of God & our ancestors are saying, “No report can save us.” It’s up to the mass movement & an enlightened electorate to stop the mendacity of Trump.

We must organize all the people hurt by Trump & his enablers’ policies. 140 million poor, 37 mil without health care. 4 million who can’t buy safe water. Organizing these citizens is the key to stopping Trump’s kind of governing.

America, we must not forget that a President who’d voted w/ Jim Crow Democrats in the Senate stood before Congress & said, “The might of past empires is little compared to ours. But I do not want to be the President who built empires, or sought grandeur, or extended dominion...

I want to be the President who educated young children to the wonders of their world. I want to be the President who helped to feed the hungry and to prepare them to be taxpayers instead of taxeaters.

I want to be the President who helped the poor to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in every election.

Do the women of America—black, white or brown; Republican or Democrat—know about the lawyer connected to white supremacy who Trump nominated for the federal court in NC & McConnell has scheduled for vote next week?

This is the longest judicial vacancy in the federal court system. President Obama tried to integrate this court by nominating 2 superbly qualified African-American women.

In 2013, Obama nominated North Carolina federal prosecutor Jennifer May-Parker, who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. But NC Sen Richard Burr refused to return his blue-slip, despite his previous recommendation of May-Parker for the position.

Death is hard for families. Death is especially hard for families of celebrities b/c they have to share their loved one in death & in life. Let’s pray for Areatha’s family. The hope always is that a funeral service can be healing & comforting, not hurtful & confusing.

Beyond the funeral, we remember Aretha loving as she fought for civil rights & voting rights. The greatest flattery is imitation. Let us get as many people as we can to imitate Aretha by getting registered & voting in November. Let’s demand RESPECT at the ballot box.

In this season when high profile people like Aretha Franklin & John McCain have passed from cancer, let us be reminded why all of us, from the poorest to the richest, should have universal health care. Let us hold their families in prayer.

Let us remember them not in some pristine fantasy that we often create when people die, but let us remember their entire lives—the good & the bad, faith and faults—that we might learn & grow from their living.

Let us love them for all they were & forgive them for all they were not. And in remembering them, may we remember our own mortality so that we number our days & be the best we can in service to God & humanity.

Our deep prayers & love are with the family of Sister Aretha as she sings & dances on the rhythms of grace to join the choir of heaven in the glory of God’s Presence. “Come unto me all ye that are heavy burdened & I will give you rest."

I will never forget after speaking at the DNC in 2016, I received a call from Aretha. I thought it was a joke, & I said, “Is this really Aretha Franklin?” She said, “Is this really Rev Barber?”

I was honored to preach for a service she had at her father’s former church & also had the opportunity from time to time to call & talk with her. Every call began with, “Is this really Aretha Franklin?” And her response: “Is this really Rev Barber?”

Trump keeps saying that under him, unemployment among African Americans is the lowest in history. Not true. We didn't even start measuring Af-Am unemployment until 1972.

Also, Trump was handed a good economy, while Obama was handed recession. Obama had to do more and did.

Economists note that unemployment rates had been falling before Trump took office & their declines don't appear to have picked up speed. This implies that there's nothing specific that Trump did to change this rate.

My brother @BenJealous, don't play the extremist game about whether you are a socialist. They would call Jesus, Dr. King, FDR & Mother Teresa socialists & half of them don't even know what the term means.

Just tell them who you are: a lover of all people, of democracy & of the least of these. Say, “I'm a constitutionalist b/c I believe in the establishment of justice, the promotion of the general welfare & equal protection under the law.

Truth is, many extreme Republicans believe in corporate welfare for the wealthy. They treat corporations like people & people like things. They give tax cuts to the greedy & cut programs for children & the sick.

All of the athletes should get together & use their star power to challenge systemic racism w/ a massive Get Out the Vote campaign. It would be a slam dunk, three pointer, crossover, touchdown & home run for justice in America.

Every time Trump attacks a black athlete or pushes a racist policy, we must register people to vote and let our voting talk at the ballot box.

Every black politician & progressive politician from City Council to Congress, even if running unopposed, should commit to increase the turnout. Let’s vote like the slaves hoped one day we could. If we ever needed to vote, we sure do need to vote now!

If we don’t help people name & condemn #SlaveholderReligion, they are left to believe this is the teaching of the church. Trump & the GOP have elevated Christian nationalism to a place where many confuse it w/ orthodox faith. ivpress.com/Media/Default/…

McConnell steals a Supreme Court seat in a way we haven’t seen since the 1800s & now the court is voting like post-1870s, making decisions based on partisan ideology rather than upholding judicial independence.

We are seeing attacks from the court on workers rights, voting rights, and equal protection under the law. This is a serious moment that calls for a Moral Revival.

We must engage in mass voter registration and mobilization, and nonviolent civil disobedience in order to build a political system that upholds justice for all. Fusion organizing among the poor and working poor is a must otherwise we will keep loosing.

AG Jeff Sessions used the Bible to justify policies like closing our borders to those in need of refuge & tearing children away from their families.

Twisting the Word of God in defense of immoral practices is a tactic that has been used to justify keeping Black people in chattel slavery, committing genocide against native Americans & segregating people under Jim Crow. #SlaveholderReligion

Sessions’ comments are anathema to any person of faith. And those politicians & clergy who support him & this policy are accessories to these immoral crimes against children, families & humanity.